sin elections. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission has said the move would be illegal. I'll defend the state laws we have in Wisconsin, Toney said when asked if he would turn over that data to the Trump administration. But what I think is really important as attorney general, we work with the attorneys in the office making decisions based on the facts and the law in reviewing that together, and so I'm going to make those decisions working with the attorneys in that office to make sure that those decision are made based on the facts and the law, not who's in the White House because unfortunately that's what we've seen from the attorney general. Kaul defended the state's decision to reject the administration's request. Our bipartisan elections commission has made clear that they can't lawfully turn over that information, Kaul said. Secondly, what we have the Trump administration asking for is not the information they need to hold people accountable for illegal voting. We know that because, as you just mentioned, they have held people accountable or at least brought cases with information they currently have. What we've seen, though, is an effort from the Trump administration to gather lots of personal information about people, not just our voter rolls, but SNAP data, TANF data, Medicaid applicant data, CDL data because they're trying to gather lots of information about the American people. State crime lab The attorney general oversees the state crime lab, which analyzes and tests evidence for criminal investigations. A recent state audit found turnaround time continues to increase. And the latest Department of Justice report found the average time for DNA test results has increased from 84 days in 2022 to 129 days in 2024. What's not acceptable to me is that the Legislature, and specifically Eric Toney's political allies in the Legislature, have continued to deny the resources we've requested, Kaul said. I have asked for a significant investment in the crime lab and specifically for DNA analysts in each of the last two state budgets, and in each of those budgets, the Legislature provided zero additional DNA analysts. This is remarkable. In the 2023-25 state budget, Kaul requested 16 additional crime lab positions. The final budget approved three. In the most recent budget, Kaul requested 19 and received zero. This is an example of the attorney general passing the buck, Toney said. He actually got more DNA analysts in 2019 in that budget from the Republican Legislature, and he said that he thought he had enough DNA analysts to do the job. And then what we saw a year later when a nonpartisan audit came out of our crime labs, the attorney general hadn't even filled the new positions that he received, Toney said. And he had six or seven less DNA analysts filled, and we're starting to see why. Earlier this year, he had a hiring freeze in place over various amounts of time dating back to 2022, which is probably why these key public safety positions haven't been filled. Kaul disputed the accusation. First, there was a sleight of hand there, Kaul said. He talked about getting additional positions. Those were not DNA analyst positions. He knows that. Secondly, he talks about a hiring freeze. I encourage your viewers, they can go online, they can see there are positions being hired by the DOJ right now. So first we've got to be honest about what's actually happening, Kaul said. Toney then placed several pieces of paper on the desk. These are emails his office provided to the state Senate that we got through a public records request, Toney said. And so now what he's doing is playing a sleight of hand, saying that well now maybe they don't have a hiring freeze during an election year. Flock cameras Both candidates were asked whether the state or Department of Justice should have any role in deciding how or if local police departments use Flock cameras, which read license plates. Numerous municipalities have abruptly ended contracts with the company in recent months. At the same time, law enforcement has credited the cameras with helping solve crime. That's where we're going to need additional action from the Legislature and the governor to take some guardrails and put those in place, Toney said. We have seen them take dangerous criminals off the streets. I'm a special prosecutor in a homicide in southeast Wisconsin where they were helpful in identifying who that suspect was. But we've seen even my local law enforcement, in talking with them when they discontinued that use, with the concerns they have for protecting active investigations and privacy of victims and community members. It's clear that we need more action from the Legislature and the governor's office, and until then local municipalities are the ones that are having to make these decisions with local sheriffs and chiefs that are having to maintain that public trust and make these difficult decisions. Kaul also said strong statewide guardrails need to be in place. I don't want to live in a surveillance state, Kaul said. I don't think Wisconsinites want to live in a surveillance state. But I also know these cameras can be used to help find missing children. That's something that we work on at the Department of Justice through the Amber Alert program. When seniors have gone missing through Silver Alerts, being able to use the cameras can be helpful, or in a homicide, if you've got somebody who's a getaway driver, being able to figure out where they left the scene of a crime and where they return to can be critical in solving a crime. So what I would like to see are rules in place that first make clear what types of offenses and situations the cameras can be used in. I want to make sure there's a limit on the disclosure of data, so it's being limited by law enforcement. I don't want to see this going to private entities. And then there should be regular auditing in place and punishments if folks are misusing the technology. Gun legislation and crime trends Kaul has unsuccessfully pushed for expanded background checks and a red flag law, which allows a court to temporarily take guns from someone deemed a danger. We've been making important progress on crime statewide, Kaul said. Crime overall is at its lowest number in decades, and violent crime is the lowest number since 2011, but we also have more work to do. I proposed my Safer Wisconsin plan years ago, which the Legislature hasn't taken up. That would invest in public safety and some common-sense gun safety measures that keep firearms out of the hands of people who we know are dangerous, would help our communities. Right now you can sell a gun out of the trunk of your car to a total stranger without having any idea who that person is, and there's nothing that law enforcement can do because we don't have universal background checks. During the campaign, Kaul has pointed to a recent rise in violent crime in Fond du Lac County. The Fond du Lac police chief has previously cited a rise in domestic violence. When asked if expanded background checks or a red flag law would help as district attorney, Toney said, If we want to talk about crime data we're seeing under this attorney general's watch since he's taken over, homicides are up over 30% in Wisconsin. We've seen on his watch record drug deaths. We have a chapter 51 process for those that are expediting mental disease or defect, Toney said. It's treatable. It has due process. People can have a trial. They can get in front of a judge. They can have their firearm rights taken away, but they can also petition to have those rights return to them, and so we have some laws on the books right now that can be used to make sure that we're protecting people. But if we're looking at trying to make sure we don't allow dangerous criminals to have guns, it's making sure our crime labs are getting the evidence to law enforcement.